AUS student team project on prevention of spinal diseases wins top honors

A smart chair that predicts early signs of spinal diseases developed by a team of computer science and engineering students from American University of Sharjah (AUS) won top honors at the recent 15th University of Wollongong Dubai Innovation Fair 2022.

Recognized under the category of advanced engineering, the senior design project was presented by the team of computer science students Sabbir Alam and Joel D’Souza, and computer engineering students Farooq Mirza and Ashith Farhan under the supervision of Dr. Raafat AbuRukba, Assistant Professor in Computer Science and Engineering.

Entitled “Multi-Sensor System to Predict Early Signs of Spine Disease,” the project consists of a smart chair that monitors a user's sitting posture throughout the day and alerts the individual to sit correctly. The chair monitors the user’s posture for months and generates data that it processes through a machine learning model known as “time series regression” to predict whether the chair’s user will encounter future deformities or suffer from Anterior Neck Syndrome.

“This project aims to prevent diseases early on. We discovered the significance of this project when we were speaking to spine specialists who noted how prevalent this disease is among young adults because they sit for long hours working at their desks. Our system targets this category of people to prevent the early degradation of their spine,” said computer science major Sabbir Alam.

The team worked on the project for a year and received full funding from the Undergraduate Research Grant awarded by AUS.

“This recognition feels great because it’s a project we have worked hard on. We have also entered our project into two other competitions and came in second in the Dell Technologies Envision the Future competition, and we are waiting for results from the other one. We are also working towards publishing a research paper on our project,” Alam said.

More than 100 students from universities across the UAE showcased their projects in three categories at the Innovation Fair: early engineering, advanced engineering and research. The jury consisted of industry experts from several national and international organizations including Etisalat, du, Technology Innovation Institute, Sharaf DG Energy, Google Cloud, Emirates and Expo 2020 Dubai among others.

“Our journey at AUS and the education we received helped us develop this project and sharpened our public speaking skills. A huge part of our participation in this fair depended on how well we could present our project and how clearly we could answer questions,” Alam said.

CEN houses six departments offering seven undergraduate programs: chemical engineering, civil engineering, computer engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, industrial engineering and mechanical engineering.

QS World University Subject Rankings (2022) ranked AUS number one in the UAE and among the top ​150 universities globally for civil and structural engineering; among the top two (tied) in the UAE and top ​300 universities globally for ​electrical, electronic, ​mechanical, aeronautical and manufacturing ​engineering; among the top two (tied) in the UAE and top ​350 universities globally for ​chemical ​engineering; and among the top three in the UAE and top ​500 universities globally for ​computer science and information. AUS engineering graduates have also been ranked as the top choice for employers in the UAE, according to QS World University Subject Rankings (2022).  

For more information about CEN, please visit www.aus.edu/cen.